For those unfamiliar with murderous computer system HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s science-fiction masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Siri is a totally cool, totally handy and totally unterrifying piece of artificial intelligence. Launched in October 2011 as part of the iOS 5 system for Apple’s then-new iPhone 4S, Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a personal assistant that fits right in your front pocket. With speech recognition software built into its noggin, Siri has the ability to perform multiple tasks for its user with just the utterance of a few brief commands. Among many others, these tasks include making phone calls, sending text messages, surfing the net, recalling stored information and even recommending nearby restaurants – yes, Siri knows where to wine and dine.

It all seems very helpful, but some iPhone users are not so satisfied with Siri’s system, or perhaps don’t trust it as much as Apple may wish them to. This is shown in a new infographic from OnlineDegrees.com, who take a look at statistical data, opinion polls and interesting facts surrounding Siri and its users, as you can see below. The results are fairly mixed, but it looks like Siri is nonetheless here to stay, and may even take over human society to become our vicious technological rulers – all hail Siri! [Read more…]